The Economist: Business Consulting

In well-chosen, well-executed consulting projects, the cost of using consultants should be related to the tangible business benefits, with consultants being remunerated on the basis of results, not just time spent.

Use consultants only when you will get better results than you can by doing the task internally, or by choosing another route such as outsourcing, or by not doing the task at all.

he answer is when it does not seek to improve business performance.

“Consultants should serve clients rather than sell more consulting assignments.”

How do good consultants add value? “They provide you with new thinking,” says van Driel. “They can act like a spark within your organisation and force you to challenge your assumptions. Not-so-good consultants just confirm what you already know and do. It is then a matter of imitation and not adding any value, a waste of energy and money.”

Companies engage consultants for three broad reasons – brand, bodies and brains – but often they don’t take the time to understand which of these they need and end up paying for one when they wanted the other

The consulting industry’s challenge now is to be more pragmatic and to focus more on delivering tangible and sustainable benefits

Consultants, on the other hand, must understand the way in which they do (or do not) transfer knowledge to their clients, deliver advice and implementation, and initiate cultural change.

place when clients and consultants work together in teams, sharing skills and expertise and focusing on common goals.

the most effective and valuable consulting takes